


Trust In Me

by dragons_and_angels



Series: Fantastic Beasts Kink Meme [11]
Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Bad Sex, Discussion of Power Imbalance, Dubious Consent, F/M, Fuck Or Die, Good Sex, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Not Canon Compliant - Movie 2: Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Post-Movie 1: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Sex Pollen, Threats of Rape/Non-Con
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-15
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-05-12 07:24:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19224424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragons_and_angels/pseuds/dragons_and_angels
Summary: When the options are fuck or die, Tina and Percival both know who their chosen partner is. 5 + 1 fic from the kink meme.





	1. The Wasting Disease

**Author's Note:**

> For the kink meme - 'Five times Tina and Graves needed had to have sex with each other for whatever reason and one time it was making love/just for them.' 
> 
> This thing is over 10k. It's official, I like this pairing.

Tina Goldstein had the best and the worst luck. Surviving dragon pox was lucky, losing both her parents to it was not. Having her sister, Queenie, was lucky, have her regularly break an unjust law with Tina's full knowledge just so she could be with the one she loved, was unlucky. Being trusted by Percival Graves, her boss and one of the most powerful wizards in America, and being in the right place at the right time to help him out of a bad situation was lucky. Having sex with your boss in order to save his life, all the while having a massive crush on him which hasn't gone away even after getting to know him? Very unlucky. Mostly. Partly. Tina wasn't going to lie to herself (she got out of the habit with Queenie for a sister), she was feeling a little excited about seeing Percival Graves naked. 

She glanced around at the room. She could have done with a few less people around though. 

Seraphina Picquery's unshakeable composure was still in place as she talked to Graves, both of them seemingly unaware of the chaos going on around them. Several Mediwitches were writing something on the slab of stone which put Tina in mind of an altar, while several others were working on a potion in a small cauldron in the corner. The lone two Mediwizards were rearranging the magical herbs in a circle around the altar, arguing about the placement all the while. 

There were several aspects of this spell that had to be in place. After Percival Graves had been hit by the Wasting Disease, a centuries old spell that should have fallen out of fashion long ago, there were two options for curing him. Go back in time, retrieve the Lundiana plant, come back to the present with a living plant, boil it's roots to make a tea and get Graves to drink it. The second option, really the only option, was for someone else to drink a synthetic antidote, the sort which wouldn't work on him directly, and have them transfer it to him through their magic. Graves would have to trust this person enough to let their magic in and the only way to transfer it was by penetrative sex. 

Tina had done a double take when she had heard that. When she had been called into Picquery's temporary French office while she was on a diplomacy trip from New York, the last thing she had expected to hear was that Graves was seriously ill and the only way to stop him from dying was for Tina to have sex with him. If it hadn't been Seraphina Picquery and Percival Graves, Tina would think someone was playing a practical joke on her. After explanation, she had been a little offended (Picquery couldn't do it because she was more powerful than Graves magically and would just destroy his magical core) and flattered and very, very nervous. 

And she still was. Graves noticed her standing there like a lemon and beckoned her over. Picquery stepped back, as graceful as ever, as Tina approached. 

"You know you don't have to do this, Goldstein," Graves said as soon as she approached. 

She glanced at him and tried to give him the best withering look she could manage. "With all due respect, sir, yes I do." Nobody would work, she knew that, and while she knew neither of her bosses would outwardly blame her if she said no, she wouldn't be able to look herself in the mirror because she had let Graves die. 

"Please don't call me sir under these circumstances." Graves looked a little pained and Tina felt her cheeks grow warm. 

"Then please don't call me Goldstein. It'll make me feel like we're in the office and you're about to lay into me for something." Tina's humiliation was powering her mouth again and she watched as a very rare look of surprise crossed Graves' face before it settled back to neutral again. 

"Gold- Tina. This doesn't affect your job in any way after this, for better or for worse." 

Graves was being serious, which just made Tina's urge to laugh even more inappropriate. She couldn't not laugh when Graves was using words from old-fashioned wedding vows but she managed to change it into a hasty cough. "I know, sir. Sorry, Graves." It would be excruciatingly awkward afterward and Tina was pretty sure she wasn't going to be able to look Graves in the eye for at least a year (and she hadn't even thought about Queenie's reaction to this), but Percival Graves would rather walk over hot coals barefoot than be unprofessional at work. 

"You can at least call me Percival." 

"But you hate your first name," Tina blurted out and then immediately wanted to cut out her tongue. When would she stop babbling? At her boss' questioning look, she elaborated, slowly in order to stop more unwanted words coming out. "Well, everyone you know calls you Graves, if they're not using a title. The only one who calls you Percival is the President and she does it to annoy you." 

"She's observant," Picquery said, sounding amused and a little admiring. It only made Tina's cheeks burn even more and she ducked her head, before realising it made her look like a blushing virgin even more than she already did. 

"I know." Graves sounded proud and that really wasn't helping the blushing. 

"Sir! We have the potion all ready," one of the mediwitches said as she held two steaming goblets. "As is the surface." She glanced at the altar and Tina did the same instinctively before remembering exactly what she and Graves were about to do on there. 

"Thank you." Graves took the goblet the mediwitch handed him. The potion would make him far more open to Tina's healing, while Tina's goblet contained the antidote. She took her own potion without asking what would happen if this didn't work. 

They both sat on the altar together as they drank their potions and handed their goblets to the mediwitches. "Thank you," Graves said. "Now, everyone out." 

"But sir, we have to monitor for adverse reactions." One of the younger mediwitches, with dark curls that could rival Queenie's and limpid green eyes, looked at both of them in concern. Correction, looked at Graves with concern. 

"No one is going to be present apart from the two of us. Get out." Graves' voice had gone into that hard tone Tina knew so well, where he expected to be obeyed and now. There were no more protests and the last one to leave was the President. 

"Alert me if there is any problems. Good luck." The words were simple and said almost without inflection but Tina caught the look Picquery sent Graves way. 

There was quiet as the two of them drank their potions. Tina wondered if the Healers had included an aphrodisiac in the potion as well and wondered if that would make things better or worse. 

"How did you want to do this?" Tina asked as she fiddled with her goblet. 

"You're the one doing the complicated magical ritual. It's up to you." Graves sounded nonplussed, as if this was another day at the office and this was just one more task to get done. 

Strangely enough, this helped and Tina was able to look at the situation with clincal eyes. "I think I'll have to go on top. I'll be able to concentrate better." And then she realised what she was asking and felt her cheeks burn. Graves, thankfully, said nothing about the situation, just scooted onto the altar and pulled his legs up. He gestured to Tina who moved towards him instinctively. 

To make sure she didn't turn into a complete tomato, she focused on the little things she had to do. The coat had to come off. Thankfully, she had had a meeting with the Head of the Auror Department, the man below Graves, and she had worn a skirt in order to look a little different to what she normally did. She didn't really want to get undressed but she took off her pantyhose and, with a moment's hesitation, her underwear as well. Graves didn't look at her full on but she knew he was well aware of everything she was doing. 

The potion was starting to work now, Tina's skin feeling flushed as the antidote for the Wasting Disease started to work itself to the surface. She felt nauseated and dizzy and clambered onto the altar before she could pass out and give Graves more of a show than intended. 

"It's starting," Tina said, her words disrupting the quiet of the room. Her breath was starting to come faster but more from pain than from anything else. She moved onto Graves' legs, straddling them as best she could without letting her skirt roll up and then wondered what to do next. Her boss seemed to read her mind like he had done in the past and he put his hands on her hips and re-positioned her. He reached back and pulled a small jar down towards them. 

Tina had a second to feel relieved that Queenie would never know about this, or at least not the details, and slicked her fingers in oil before pushing them under her skirt and inside of her. It was a really unsexy moment but Tina's breath was coming fast as she slicked herself up. Graves didn't remove his hands from her hips and the scent of him filled her nose. 

He didn't look at her as he adjusted his pants and pulled himself out. This time, it was Tina's turn to read his mind as he glanced down at himself and grimaced. 

"Let me," she said quietly. She pulled her hand out of herself and reached down to slick him up. He was soft at first, but she could feel him hardening up beneath her hand. She didn't look down, sure she would expire from embarrassment if she did so, and instead concentrated on the shell of his ear in front of her nose. 

There were no further words about the act between the two of them after that, none of the checking to make sure the other still wanted to go ahead. Both of them trusted the other to say if they wanted to stop and so when Tina positioned herself on top of Graves, she didn't hesitate before slipping him inside. 

She moaned a little, unconsciously, and then pressed her face against his shoulder to hide her flushed cheeks. It had been a while, yes, but she was actually attracted to Graves before all this started. It may be one of the worst ways for this to happen but she was still getting wet at the feel of him underneath her, inside of her, her own slick mixing with the oil. His arms tightened around her and he swore in French, probably picked up from the Canadian Aurors who came to New York from Montreal two months ago. "Tina." 

Tina gasped and then swallowed as she felt him rock his hips. The Wasting Disease hadn't started working on his appearance yet, so the body underneath Tina was as steady and solid as he ever was. Tina trusted him to have this excruciatingly awkward encounter with and he trusted her to save him and it was that very same trust which was going to make sure this worked. 

Which meant she had to actually do her job. The incantation had taken nearly two days to learn but now she had reached the point she could say it in her sleep. Percival Graves underneath her, hot and aroused, didn't hinder the flow of words streaming from her mouth, even if her brain wasn't fully engaged. The potion she had taken was designed to be transferred over. She could feel it writhing inside of her, uncomfortable as if it was straining at her very skin, but it still wasn't moving despite the two of them being closer than they had ever been before. 

The kiss was an impulse, born more out of a need to stop the pain rather than any true desire, but it worked. The antidote flowed out of Tina, everywhere where her skin was touching his and she breathed a sigh of relief as everything loosened. Light cracked along Graves' skin until it webbed in all directions, all the way up to his pained expression on his face. She stroked down his back, hoping to soothe at least a little but he only gripped her tighter. 

It was like an unheard click, the finished transfer. Tina didn't realise she had been holding her breath with Graves until the moment changed and he started to breathe again. He slumped back against the altar and Tina hastened to lift herself off him with a fairly embarrassing wet sound before lying down next to him. 

"You okay?" she asked, careful not to look down where he was adjusting himself so he was all covered up again. Tina was wet between her thighs and it was uncomfortable without the usual post-orgasm bliss but she willfully ignored it. "Graves?" 

His lips quirked. "Oh, you can definitely call me Percival after that." Now he turned to look at her, a more open expression than she had ever seen before on his face. "Thank you, Tina." 

The automatic dismissal of his thanks got caught in her throat. It wasn't nothing or her pleasure or anything like that. "You're welcome," was all she could say and he seemed to understand. 

There was a few moments of silence. "Percival?" She tried it out and liked the way he turned to look at her. "Can we get the Mediwitches back in to see if it worked? I really need to take a shower." 

"It worked," he said as he pulled himself up to a sitting position. "But a shower sounds good."


	2. The Delirium Potion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has warnings for non-consensual drugging, both Graves and someone in Tina's past mentioned briefly. 
> 
> Also 'singing girls' are prostitutes.

The next time it happened, Tina wondered if the universe was out to get her. Between the four of them, Graves, her, Gaicz and Cho, she knew exactly who her boss would choose to help him out.

"Sorry, Tina," he said as soon as they were alone. He was looking more flushed than Tina had ever seen him outside of that time, and a light sheen of sweat was covering his skin. His eyes were focused but his pupils were blown large in arousal.

"I know, Percival." Tina stepped closer to him and helped him remove the tie his fingers were struggling with. "What are the symptoms so far?"

"I'm finding it hard to focus on anything. My fingers feel like they've gone numb and unable to work." Graves' Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed audibly. "Increased arousal."

Despite herself, Tina found she was getting hot as she helped Graves shrug off his jacket. He hadn't taken his eyes off her since she had moved closer and it left her with a heady sense of power. She had to force the feeling down and reminded that she was just helping out her boss. And her friend, because this went a little beyond helping out a colleague at work. If she said anything about being uncomfortable, Percival would send her away to get one of the singing girls, trust she wouldn't say anything about the Director's lapse the next day, and he would spend the night with her. He may not enjoy it mentally, but it would do the job.

But Tina didn't want that and, judging by the fact Percival hadn't brought it up, neither did he.

"How many times do you reckon it'll take?" Tina asked quietly as she helped Percival with the buttons of his shirt. Instead of leaving her to get it done, Percival was stroking his hands up and down Tina's forearms, as if unable to help touching her. It was distracting in the best way possible.

"Two, maybe three." Percival groaned as Tina's hands reached his neckline and her knuckles brushed against his skin. "First time is going to have to be soon." He was apologising without actually saying it and Tina smiled at him.

"I thought so." She shrugged off her coat and jacket. Her shirt was short-sleeved and Queenie had picked out her skirt so it was loose and flowing, rather prettier than what she normally wore. She had a strange sense of déjà vu, but this time she felt a lot more comfortable. Maybe it was Percival's obvious need or the fact that this was the second time this was happening but Tina felt far more relaxed and far less embarrassed.

As soon as her coat came off, Percival was pulling her closer and his hands slid under her shirt in order to touch the skin underneath. His hands were cold and Tina shivered, pressing herself closer against him. She restrained herself from flinching in shock when she felt his cock, hot and hard inside of his suit pants, pressing against her hip and scolded herself for being surprised in the first place. She knew how fast the Delirium Potion worked, or at least, this version of it.

Judging by the way his hips were moving, pushing himself against her as if he was unable to prevent himself, Percival Graves was fast losing the ability to rationalise. She was glad he was doing this with her. For a man like him, losing control was not something he enjoyed and definitely not in front of complete strangers.

"Tina," he said hoarsely and then faltered as if the other words escaped him. Half their clothes had disappeared, but Tina wasn't sure whether Percival had banished them or whether she had been preoccupied by what she was going to do next to realise he was undressing them both. Her shirt was gone and her slip was askew, baring her breasts to his gaze, though her skirt was still attached. Her underwear was long gone and one stocking had vanished, while the other clung to the Sticking Spell she used each morning. She would feel far more exposed if she wasn't getting an eyeful of Graves in his undershirt and pants hanging open at the waist. Nothing was on display but he was panting as if he had run a race.

He looked like he was in pain and Tina went to him, wanting to vanish the expression completely from his face. He moaned when she was close and his hands were clumsy as they smoothed over her skin, though he was never as rough as Tina had heard Delirium sufferers could be. Their hips were pushed together by his hands and soon enough, he was spending against her hip, the cloth of his pants becoming damp.

"First one, yes?" Tina asked but Percival seemed beyond words now. His pupils were so wide that barely any iris could be seen and she could feel his heart beating so fast against his chest it was almost difficult to distinguish the beats from each other. Underneath the heat of arousal, Tina felt a stirring of cold terror. Delirium could kill if left to its own devices, eventually the body couldn't keep up the frantic pace of everything and the heart gave out and there was no telling how long Graves had been infected with it before his need overtook his caution.

She pushed him back a little, enough to reach her wand and transform the sofa in the room into a bed. Percival's breathing sounded laboured now, more like someone struggling to breathe than someone being overcome with passion. Tina didn't know what she could do if anything did go horribly wrong, all she could do was carry out the best cure for Delirium Potion.

"Come on." She guided Percival over to the bed and when he lay down, partly out of obedience and partly out of what seemed to be exhaustion, she climbed on top of him. He was still hard when she uncovered him and it made it easy enough to sink down on top of him. For a moment, it felt like that time back in France when she was having to save Graves from the Wasting Disease but this time Tina felt stronger, less likely to collapse as soon as she stood up, but far more out of control. Percival wasn't with her this time, he had been reduced to his instincts and reactions, or at least the ones the potion was driving him to do and she hated it.

As she started to move on top of him, lifting and falling in such a way that made her thighs protest at the later pain they were going to feel, but made Percival moan in what sounded more like pleasure than pain, she realised that even though she was hating the position Percival was in now, she was enjoying this. Last time it had been far more awkward than anything else, but this time the man she had a crush on ever since he had taught her how to curse the people who didn't think she would be worth anything as an Auror, was lying beneath her, flushed and hot. The pain was gone from his expression and there was a pleasing sense of desperation to his face.

"Second one now," Tina said quietly as she started to speed up. Percival was bucking up underneath her but the angle he was in made it hard and it was nothing compared to Tina setting the pace.

Two orgasms and the potion should start dissipating instead of building inside of him but as Percival came inside of her (she had to remember the contraceptive potion after they were done), she kept on moving, hoping to be sure with three times. Everything got a lot wetter, his come leaking out of her and making a huge mess of his pants even as she kept going. Her breath was coming hard now, though more from exertion than from any chance of her coming. Every time she landed on top of Percival, he made a grunting sound as if it was being shoved out of him.

The third time was wrenched out of him with a groan, as if he was being emptied of everything he had left to give. Tina started to slow down as she could feel him softening a little inside of her, though he remained hard enough to not slip out. She came to a stop gradually and wondered what would happen now. Graves was pretty much unconscious, eyes closed and shallow breathing so Tina took the chance to right her clothes so they were covering everything important before using a cleaning charm, first on herself and then on Percival.

Going through the motions was easy at this point in time. Redressing Graves, water and warmth. She knew what to do for a sufferer of Delirium, or at least what happened when the person was coming down. Water, food if that was tolerated, and someone close by to deal with the inevitable shivers and abandoned feeling the person had. Tina had never been dosed with it before but one of the Aurors she trained with, Marcia Telletope, had been dosed by an ex-boyfriend and had found the experience so traumatic she had quit the Auror Training program.

She curled up next to Percival on the bed, feeling cold herself and she conjured up a blanket. Scratchy, red wool, nothing like the softness Queenie was able to conjure up with just a thought, but it would suffice until her boss woke up and was able to get better for himself. She was glad she was able to help Percival. It was like the last time when she had been trusted by this man she so admired and cared for, but after the act was done, she was left being reminded that this wasn't the normal way of things. Most people found people they liked and wanted to get to know better, before they started stepping out and sleeping together. Queenie had done the process a couple of times but never settled. Tina had always been focused on being the best Auror she could be and she would never regret that because she loved her job, but sometimes she wondered if she had had to trade intimacy for it.

Tina shook herself when she realised how maudlin her thoughts were getting. She curled in closer to Percival and found him returning the favour a little, turning his head, though he still didn't open his eyes. She had to focus on him right now, rather than her own lonely thoughts.


	3. Undercover

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for some non-consensual voyeurism? Tina and Graves both know it's there but they only agree to it because they have to.

Tina adjusted her neckline automatically and then immediately had to stop a wince. Christina Appleby was not the type of woman who would feel self-conscious about how low the neckline was and she was Christina.

"Darling." Graves' voice was like liquid honey and Tina had to restrain herself from shivering at the sound. Grayson Collins was the type of man who used endearments but said in Percival Graves' voice they were killer. She stood up in one fluid movement, imitating Queenie more than anything else, and gave Graves a beaming smile. "Mr Anves here wanted to meet you. He's offered us a place to stay for the night."

"Oh, how wonderful," Tina said with all appearance of enjoyment even though her mind was already working double time. Anves was a handsome, lean man with fair hair and blue eyes. He and Graves were smiling the same kind of smile, but there was nothing behind Anves' eyes. You could see that Anves' pale eyes were sizing you up even as he charmed you and Tina felt a shiver go up her spine, this one a warning rather than desire. They needed Anves' trust to find out who was supplying the Delirium potions to the rich clientele of New York, but she couldn't help but think there was something wrong. If you trusted someone, you had a drink with them, you didn't invite them to stay the night in your home when they would probably have a hotel or their home to go to. Or you did, but it would take far longer than the five days Graves and Tina had been on the job.

That night, they were packed into a beautiful decorated room, all grey silk and dark wooden furnishings, with several insinuations from Anves about the silencing spells worked into the walls. Tina took off her earrings as Graves waved a hand and his wand appeared. One nonverbal spell later and his wand disappeared. He pulled Tina into an embrace, Grayson Collins' smile on his face.

"Mr Anves has given us such a beautiful room, don't you think," Graves said, more of a statement than a question. His fingers on her waist were moving, tapping firmly on the bare skin of her back revealed by her dress. Tina smiled back as she tried to absorb what Graves was telling her through Morse code.

_Monitoring spells. Act like couple._

"Far better than our hotel room," Tina said with a warm smile. She leaned up to kiss Graves, smoothing one hand over his chest and returning his Morse code message as she did so.

_How far?_

When Graves kissed her back, it was all him rather than Grayson Collins. The man he was playing would be interested in the look of the kiss and his own pleasure, far more used to playing for an audience than privacy, but Graves himself swept Tina away with his kiss, enough that she almost missed his quick fingers.

_All the way. I'm sorry._

As much as Tina disliked the thought of an audience, she knew why Percival had requested it. Anves couldn't have any doubt about them being who they said they were. The two of them having sex in the room he prepared for them would be enough to convince him, he would doubt they were Aurors from the get go. Kissing was one thing, sex was another and Tina was pretty sure most of her coworkers would be hesitant about going all the way, endangering the mission. But she knew Graves and he knew her, not to mention it wasn't exactly the first time they were having sex together.

The hardest part wasn't going to be the act itself - Percival Graves hadn't become any less handsome since she last slept with him - but staying in character as Christina at the same time as having sex with her colleague was going to be the difficult part.

She quickly tapped a message to Graves or Percival as he preferred to be known in situations like this. _Be Grayson, not Graves._

A nod was her only reply this time. He smiled at her and while his lips were Grayson, his eyes were pure Graves. "It seems a shame to waste such a beautiful room, darling," Graves said, his smile plain in his voice. The smooth charm was something Graves could do easily but it didn't come naturally to him. He was far more plain speaking and Tina knew which one she preferred. She tried to think of what Christina would do and instead ended up giggling as Graves kissed her neck, the stubble from his beard tickling the sensitive skin under her chin.

"Oh you are too much," Tina said, her voice as light as she could make it. She started tugging Graves towards the bed, only to remember that wouldn't be how Christina would act and instead turning to lead him to the bed as seductively as possible. "It was wonderful of Mr Anves to give us such a room."

"Darling, you know how it makes me jealous to hear you talk of other men," Graves said with a smirk, though there was a note of warning behind his expression. Tina nodded. No more mention of Anves, they didn't want to make it obvious that they knew about the room being bugged.

She pulled Graves down onto the bed, his arms on either side of her head and despite the fact she knew she was acting the part, Tina felt her heart pound against her chest. This was exactly what she was hoping for but not in this situation. The kiss was slow, but there was something missing from it. It felt like Graves was putting on a show, more focused on how it looked rather than how it felt to her and she realised that Graves was doing what she asked of him. Grayson would be far more interested in his own pleasure and appearances than he would be in his wife's, or at least the character Graves had created that would work with a man such as Anves.

She responded, but held herself back, careful not to get too absorbed in the feel of his skin or the scent of Graves underneath the ostentatious cologne he was wearing in his Grayson disguise. Graves pulled back and started to kiss down her neck. "Christina, darling, let me undress you."

Tina nodded but felt her mind detach a little from the situation as she twisted the button of her dress which would cause the whole thing to fall off her. A Queenie invention and one she was very glad for at this occasion. The slow undressing she had imagined when she let herself imagine and her Percival together was definitely not what she wanted right now. Graves skimmed the dress off, leaving her in her slip and bare before his eyes. She smiled as seductively as possible but it was hard when you were looking down at the situation with an almost clinical detachment. She didn't know why this was bothering her so much, it wasn't like this was the first time this had happened between her and Graves.

The thought of Anves watching them this time with his calculating eyes whatever they did send shivers up Tina's spine and didn't leave her in a very sexy mood.

Graves' gaze flicked up to hers and then stuck there. A look passed over his face, there and gone, and even Tina, who could read her boss better than anyone not named Seraphina Picquery, didn't know what he was thinking. He smiled at her and this time it was a Graves smile, a quick jerk of his lips and a steady gaze fully on her face. She smiled back, helpless to do anything else.

This time when Graves kissed her, he kissed like she had imagined he would. Focused completely on her and her pleasure, making sure she felt as comfortable as she could before he deepened the kiss. Tina felt herself getting lost in the kiss no matter how much she told herself it wasn't a good idea.

"Gra-," she started to say when they parted and Graves immediately smothered her lips again, seemingly out of passion but Tina was sure it was because she had been about to say his name. Thankfully she was far more used to calling him Graves than she was Percival, because that name wasn't one that could be easily disguised by their cover.

"I've got you, darling," Graves said in Grayson's voice as soon as he pulled back, but his meaning came through loud and clear. As his hands skimmed Tina's shift up and over her shoulders, she was long past modesty with Graves now, she felt her shoulders start to relax. Anves was at the back of her mind, she wasn't stupid enough to completely forget the mission but he seemed a far less important part right now. It felt more like Graves was on her side and it was the two of them against Anves, instead of Tina struggling with her feelings alone.

The sex between them wasn't as awkward as the first time, though sheer force of will, but it definitely wasn't as passionate as the second time. She didn't come, but then, she hadn't expected to. When Graves settled down beside her, she was able to curl into him like a devoted wife would do.

She fell asleep, confident that one of them would awaken if there was an attack, and wondered how they would get over this hurdle next time.


	4. Magical Beasts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: attempted rape (not by Graves or Newt)

The next time it was Tina who was under the influence, thankfully something far more benign than the Delirium potion. There had been creatures smuggled into New York in the barrels of also illegal Firewhiskey. Newt almost had a fit at the unsafe conditions for the beasts but it rivaled with his delight at there being a new kind of creature. 

"They're illegal cross-breeds, Newt," Tina said as she examined them closely. They resembled puffskeins with their little fluffy bodies and the purring, but there was a faint dust coming from their fur that Tina knew better than to touch. "And they look mostly like puffskeins to me." 

"But they aren't." Newt's eyes were bright with interest as he leaned closer. "Their purr is on another decibel level to the traditional puffskein. Not to mention the powder they seem to be excreting. I don't think these are cross-breeds, I think these are puffskeins that have suffered under some kind of experiementation." Tina could just see his heart making him steal all the puffskeins and taking them home, without knowing what was going on with them. They surely wouldn't be as dangerous as some of the creatures he kept in his case but if these new puffskeins bred like the normal ones, his case would be overrun by the little beasts. 

"Newt, you are here as a consultant. Step back from the puffskeins." Tina pulled out her wand and Newt gave her a worried look. "Oh, Newt, I'm not going to do anything to do them. A small stasis spell, just so we can get to MACUSA and examine them somewhere which isn't the basement of a speakeasy." Or a supposed speakeasy which turned out to be a front for magical creatures' smuggling. "Now go and have a look at the other creatures and see whether they're suitable to be Stunned or put in stasis." If one of the Puffskeins broke out of stasis, the worst thing would be some purring. If something like a Nundu broke out of it, there would be complete chaos. 

Newt, happy to be given the job of dealing with the animals, hastened to do as he was asked. Tina could hear him crooning to some of them and felt herself smiling. She really wished it could have worked between them but discovering her feelings for Newt were far more platonic than she had been expecting and that he returned the sentiment could have gone far more badly than it did. Now he did flyby visits and assisted the Auror Department with some of their more dangerous creatures, giving Tina the benefit of a true, uncomplicated friendship. Graves had given up on getting these creatures back from Newt's suitcase, telling Tina that Newt was far more qualified to look after them than their 'experts' in MACUSA. 

She shook her head and told herself to focus on the job. Nowadays thinking about Graves led to daydreaming and daydreaming led to sloppiness and that was something Tina couldn't afford on the job. 

The stasis charm was something she could do in her sleep and so her mind was half-elsewhere as she chanted at the Puffskeins and it was only when they seemed to explode, or at least their fur did, emitting the powder onto everything within a five foot radius. Including Tina. 

The puffskeins went back to purring, happily unbothered by the stasis spell and Tina stared at them, completely covered in fine, colourful dust. 

"Tina, are you alright?" Newt asked as he stepped out from behind a crate and took in the scene in one glance. 

"Stay back," Tina said grimly as she looked down at herself. "If you don't know what they've done to the puffskeins, then we don't know what this powder is and I don't need you being covered in it too." Hopefully it was something very benign, but knowing Tina's luck, it would be some sort of deadly potion that poisoned anyone who touched it. Or breathed it in, she thought as she coughed into her hand. 

"I'll take a sample," Newt said and knelt next to the circle of powder around Tina without waiting for her to answer. He doesn't touch it, showing that despite what Graves said frequently, he did have some common sense, but uses his wand to move it into a flask and bottled it. 

"How are you feeling, Tina?" he asked as he stood up.

"Fine," she answered automatically but it's not quite true. She's starting to feel a little warm around the collar and is having the sudden urge to run her hands up Newt's chest. If not for the events of the last few months, she might have missed the signs or chalked them up to the lack of air in the room until it was too late. But after Graves had been affected by the Delirium potion, she had done her research and could recognise the unnatural heat rolling through her. Her body temperature would be elevated but the flush on her cheeks and the burning between her legs was something altogether very different. 

"You don't look well." Newt was hovering but was careful not to get too close to Tina. She realised she was kneeling on the ground and wondered why she had ended up down there. Oh yes, in order for her mouth to be level with Newt's crotch. 

"Mercy," she whimpered as she put her head in her hands. Her thoughts were starting to move slower now as her body started to scream at her that she needed to have sex right now, preferably with a man who could breed her. "What in Circe's name did they do to those puffskeins?" 

"Tina?" Newt's alarm made her look up. Any moment now and he was going to touch her out of sheer concern, he was going to get infected, they would have sex and both of them would never be able to look at each other ever again. 

"Graves," Tina managed to gasp out. "Percival. Graves." She swallowed and wished there was something else in her mouth. "Newt, get Graves and tell him - " She shuddered and had to restrain herself from putting a finger into her underwear in front of Newt. "Tell him that this stuff mimics the Delirium potion. Tell him - " That she needed him to come to her and breed her, make her swell with child in order to further the human race. No, she definitely wasn't going to tell him that. "Tell him to come straight away." 

Newt's eyes were wide, and had been since she had mentioned Delirium potion, but he apparated out without so much of a goodbye. There were protective spells on the entrance to the basement, designed for Newt and Tina to do their examination of the stolen goods uninterrupted, but she felt completely vulnerable. She needed someone here with her, someone as powerful or more powerful than her. Someone she trusted to protect her. 

She settled herself down into a sitting position, making sure her fingers were nowhere near temptation, and sat with her back against the wall. Just waiting. 

A little while later, the scrape of metal against metal broke her out of her recitation of the magical law of the USA. She jerked her head around to see two men come through a hidden door in the wall, able to bypass the protections by the simple fact that they were on the other entrance to this place. One of the men was tall, blonde and handsome, while the other had a pale, pinched face and wandering eyes. Eyes that surveyed the place before resting on Tina. 

Neither he or the other man was stupid. They saw the layer of dust around Tina and on her clothes and knew exactly what the puffskeins had done. 

"Now this should be fun," the dark-haired man said, in a voice of quiet menace. The blond's grin made Tina's stomach churn but she was frozen in place, sure that something bad would happen if she moved. Her mind had slowed to a crawl but right now the only thing it was saying right now was to run. 

But Tina couldn't. Several things were keeping her rooting to the spot - the fact that she had never run away from a fight in her life, that the smugglers would make the animals disappear, making Newt upset and the evidence against them vanish, but the thing that was preventing her from fighting back was pure, animalistic fear. What the men intended was written right across their face and Tina didn't know whether the powder would make her welcome it. She couldn't think of anything worse. 

She swallowed as she watched the two of them come closer. Strangely enough, the powder seemed to be working in her favour right now. Her mind was evaluating the two men and finding them lacking as breeding partners. They enjoyed pain and living an illegal life meant they were far more likely to have an untreated disease that could be given to her. Conclusion: their worth as a breeder was nothing and finally, finally she could fight back. But, despite what her brain was telling her, the powder was making sure she was slow and clumsy. It might not find the two men in front of her worthy of breeding partners but in the absence of anyone else, it would take what it could get. 

One of the men did a silent spell which had the powder rushing into a bright green bottle he held, leaving Tina and the surrounding floor completely free from the powder. And open to whatever they wanted to do to her. 

"Stay away," she managed to croak, sounding as scared as she felt. "No, I don't want this." It felt important to say that somehow, even if it looked like the two men were ignoring her completely. 

"Oh, but you do," the blond man said with a smile. "That powder makes you want to sleep with any man that offers. You'll get down on your knees and beg before long." 

"What happens if I don't?" Tina asked, finally managing to prod her brain back into working a little, even if it was at half speed. 

The dark-haired man shrugged. "The animals had never gotten that far. They just got more and more desperate until they finally fucked each other." A sly grin. "Just like we're going to do to you." 

"Maybe we should let her get desperate," the blond said, seemingly the more sadistic of the two. "Let her get so bad she can't even talk, only spread her legs." 

The fear was back but this time Tina countered it with the part of her brain that hadn't been overtaken by the powder yet. She must not let them touch her because as soon as they did, she had a feeling she would end up begging. Her wand was out and she threw a blasting spell right in between the two of them. Something she wouldn't normally do considering the capacity for destruction but it was the first one that came to mind and there were no room for second thoughts here. 

The noise and disintegration of part of the floor had all the animals howling and two men cursing at her. She hadn't hit either of them, she had wanted to get both at the same time, but the blond almost fell into the hole of the floor and the other one backed into the cage of a large bird with a wickedly curved beak. A flash later and the man was howling, blood staining his robes at the shoulder where the bird had lashed out in irritation at having its home rocked. Tina, never one to miss an opportunity, threw a banishing charm at the blond man, sending him flying through the air. A Tripping jinx at the other had him stumbling over the hole in the floor. 

A second later and Graves and Newt were standing in the middle of the floor, a crack announcing their arrival. Both of them were quick on the uptake and soon enough, the two men were bound and unconscious on the floor with Graves' own Portkeys on them, ready to take them to the holding cells. 

Tina was safe. She could relax, she was protected. Graves turned to look at her as soon as he dealt with the criminals, and his expression turned from concern into shock and worry-induced terror. "What happened?" 

She couldn't answer but she stumbled closer. Graves accepted her into his personal space and Tina let her head rest against his collar bone, careful not to touch him anywhere else for the moment. 

"Percival," she whispered, hoping he would get the message. She was so glad that he had realised to only bring himself and Newt. If her colleagues had witnessed her need to press herself up against her boss, no amount of hard work would quench the 'sleeping her way to the top' rumours. She was free to breathe in Graves' scent without worrying she would be judged for it. Newt was her friend, he wouldn't be anything but concerned for her. 

"Mr Graves, are you sure...?" Newt sounded doubtful and there was movement beneath Tina's forehead. Graves was shaking his head. 

"Scamander, she did the same for me and I'm assuming by the fact she asked you to get me here while she was still mostly in her right mind is an indicator that she is happy for me to do the same for her." Graves' voice was perfectly controlled and Tina was unable to help herself now, throwing her arms around his neck in sheer delight and relief at him being here. 

"There are some ethical considerations," Newt said, his tone the same kind careful one he used right before he was about to do something stupid. Tina had some idea what was running through his mind right now and found the willpower to lift her head right then. 

"Newt," she said and it had to be forced out through dry lips. He looked at her, his eyes bright with concern. "Only going to get worse. Right now, I know what I'm doing but won't stay like that. P-Percival will help, just like I did him." Graves' arm supported her around the waist as she wavered and almost fell. 

It seemed to take an age but Newt nodded slowly. "You trust him and I trust you." The words were so simple but they made Tina tear up. The trust in her judgement wasn't something she really had - even Queenie doubted her sometimes, although that was probably from reading her mind more than anything else. 

"Thanks," she said because Newt was starting to look a little panicked at the sight of her tears. 

"You alright to categorise these animals without stealing them?" Graves asked Newt who straightened up to his full height in indignation. Tina would find it more amusing if it wasn't wondering whether Graves would breed her bent over the beast cages. Probably not, he was far too annoyingly proper for that. 

Newt and Graves' conversation went over her head as she looked around in an almost stupor. She wasn't entirely sure what her mood was going to be like next but right now, she felt like she was getting wound tighter and tighter the more she waited. Nearly all her self-control was going on not jumping Graves right here but every time he spoke, his body shifted and considering how close they were with his arm around her waist, she could feel it. Her tongue felt too big for her mouth so all she could do was press herself closer and hope he would get the hint. 

He did, though it took him longer than Tina would have wanted. He broke off from what he was saying and looked at her. A rare expression of chagrin crossed his face before he said goodbye to Newt. 

"Goodbye," Newt parroted back. "I'll come and check on you afterward, Tina!" he managed to say quickly before Graves apparated them both away. 

Tina had enough time to realise they were in an apartment, furnished in dark greens and antique wooden furniture, before throwing herself at Graves. Literally; he had to catch her to stop her landing on the floor. 

"Tina," Graves - Percival managed to say but it came out as a half-moan as Tina attached her lips to the bare skin of his neck and sucked. It would mark and she liked that. "What do you think it'll take for the effects to wear off?" 

"You fucking me," Tina said, a note of honesty behind her words. "And ignore anything I say about breeding or pregnancy." 

Percival looked alarmed at this but Tina hastened to kiss him, making it long and drawn out. The next time she pulled back and looked at his face, his pupils were twice the size, his cheeks flushed pink and his hair was mussed. All very flattering but right now Tina really didn't want foreplay. 

"Fuck me now," she said, her hands scrabbling at his belt buckle. A thought came to her and she let go of Percival's clothes, only to start on her own. She was almost sobbing with frustration when Percival took over, his steady hands setting off a fire in her as he divested her of her trousers and outer jacket. Tina didn't care that her top half was still covered, right now all she needed was to be fucked and that was what Percival was going to do for her. "Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me," she chanted and then moaned as Percival picked her up, putting her legs around his waist and leading her through to a room with a wide couch. 

He wasn't fucking her but Tina was able to rub against him with abandon as they moved and several times she felt his arms shaking. Right then she would have regarded it as the biggest compliment if he had dropped her. The powder was really starting to take effect as Tina had never felt this abandoned before. It was like part of her mind was watching her from behind all this behaviour and wondering where it had even come from. 

She thanked Circe, Merlin and every other famous witch and wizard that she hadn't done this in front of Newt or her other colleagues. With Percival it was embarrassing but they had been through too much together for it to mean much. She had seen him at his worst and he was now seeing her at her worst. It was only fair and that lessened the embarrassment partly. 

"Fuck me, breed me, fill me with children," Tina babbled as Percival put her down on the couch. His grip did loosen, but only when she was already an inch away from the couch surface, so there wasn't far to go. 

Rationality surfaced for a brief moment and Tina covered her face with her hands. "Ignore me, ignore me," she muttered and Percival nuzzled her cheek. It was affectionate and sweet and it really shouldn't light a fire inside of Tina as much as it did. But he was reassuring her and making sure she was comfortable and somehow that was more of a turn-on than him bending her over the back of the couch and fucking her stupid. 

"It's okay, Tina." His voice made his chest vibrate and Tina spread her hands over his cloth-covered chest, only to disapprove of how little bare skin there was. She ended up ripping the shirt apart, buttons flying everywhere, before she reach skin. Percival was saying more things but she couldn't concentrate, the powder blurring her thought processes and reducing her down to her animalistic urges. 

Then there was only sensation. 

When Tina was in her right mind again, she was sore all over, especially between her legs and she was curled up on the couch with a blanket and Graves' coat thrown over her. She snuggled down into the covers and opened her eyes, unsurprised to see a half-dressed Graves sitting on the floor beside the couch. 

"Evening, Tina," he said, sounding all the while like they were in the office right now, rather than only having three items of clothing between them and bruises from each other all over their bodies. Tina winced as she could see scratches and bruises on Graves' back and shoulders, from what she could see with his undershirt in the way. "How are you feeling?" 

"Sore but okay," she said. She had learned to be honest when she injured otherwise she got a worried Graves hovering over. A worried Graves was very like his normal apart from even more sarcastic and with a stare that left her squirming in a not-so-bad way. "Are you okay?" 

He turned to look at her and, yes, he could still convey are-you-serious with just one slight lift of his right eyebrow. Tina had forgotten he could do that. "Your back is all scratched." 

His hand raised instinctively as if to check it and then something flickered across his face. His hand dropped back down. "It's fine. I'm not the one who was infected. You'll have to be checked out by the Medis." 

"Sir, I really don't think that's necessary," Tina protested and got only a flat look from Graves. 

"Tina, you got infected by an unknown powder. You are going to get checked out even if I have to drag your sister into this." 

Tina winced. Queenie would know as soon as she saw Tina what had happened, but she really didn't need her sister's guilt-tripping her into the Mediwitches and Mediwizards' arms. Her boss doing his concerned impression was bad enough. "Fine. I'll go." 

Graves didn't comment on how she sounded like a petulant child, something she was very grateful for. "Thank you," was all he said. 

"You'll come with me?" Tina asked before the higher part of her brain could have a say and she immediately wanted to bite her tongue. "Sorry, sir." 

"It's okay, Tina." He didn't show any surprise or disgust at the thought of Tina wanting him there when she examined. "It's residual effects. I know the feeling." And a quirk of his lips was the only indicator that yes, he was aware of the implication of that statement. 

"Good." Tina nodded. She didn't tell him that it had nothing to do with the powder, or at least she was pretty sure it didn't. She trusted Percival Graves more than she trusted anyone, except for Queenie. He would not fail to help her and if the Medis tried anything (not that they would but Tina really didn't know what this powder could do), he would be there to stop it. She could trust him to watch her back and she hadn't realised how rare that was for her, ever since her parents had died and left her with only Queenie to count on. 

She tried to sit up, only to gasp and fall back onto the couch. Graves was there, all dark eyes and soft hands as he helped her gently to sit up.

"Sat up too fast." Tina gave him a weak smile and purposely didn't say that the ache was between her legs worst of all. For one thing, she was certain that he already knew and for another, she was sure to die of embarrassment alone if she brought that up. The Medis examination was going to be bad enough and she tried not to think about it too much as she got herself dressed. At least she wouldn't be alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not going to lie, it was really tempting to label this chapter 'sexy, mutant puffskeins' but thought it might give the wrong idea.


	5. Magical Wards

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, the only reason this chapter is here is because your comments are very inspiring. Every time I got one, I would say to myself 'okay, this chapter has to work somehow, let's try again'. It still took months because this chapter was the worst. Like the actual worst. I rewrote it three times and even now I'm not completely happy with it, but it does get the story to where I want it to go.

This was getting ridiculous, Tina thought to herself as she looked around at the basement she was in. This was a MACUSA safehouse, one of their nicer ones with three floors, an attic and a basement and with magical wards ingrained into the very foundations of the building. She was sure not even Grindelwald could break these protections - but there was always a cost. To reinforce the magical wards around the safe house, a sacrifice had to be made. Since no one was planning on sacrificing their life or their magic, the sacrifice had to go back to something more basic. Primal. 

"But I'm not a virgin," Tina hissed to Queenie as her sister sailed into the room. Tina never managed to walk like that and next to Queenie she always felt like she was plodding along. 

Queenie laughed. "Oh, Teenie, that doesn't matter. Virginity doesn't matter to magic, at least not like that, and having sex would be a sacrifice enough for the wards." 

Tina grumbled some more and wished Queenie hadn't been so loud in her answer. Graves was on the floor, examining the carved lines into the floor of the basement, reinforcing them when he noticed a crack. The three interlocking circles took up nearly the entire floor, but the only space Graves and Tina could inhabit during the ritual was the middle of the overlapping circles. 

"What kind of wards are these?" Tina asked under her breath as she glared at the floor. 

"Old-fashioned ones," Graves said in a slightly defeated tone as he looked at the circles. From the sounds of it, the wards were more than old-fashioned, they were ancient. European ones that crossed the Atlantic and morphed and twisted over the centuries as the States developed their own style of magic, mixed with the Graves' family magic. He had donated one of their houses to MACUSA for use as a safe house but the upkeep of the wards was his responsibility. They needed reinforcing every three score years, which means that this time it was Graves' turn to do the ritual.

"Face it, you two are the more powerful ones in MACUSA. Besides, do you really trust anyone else to do this with?" Queenie said to her. Tina was careful not to look at Percival when she was considering this. The ritual would pull on both their magics, leaving them empty and so very vulnerable. Queenie would protect them from outside the circle but they would safeguard each other inside the circle.

She had read the book Graves had provided for her before disappearing, anxiety building up the more she read but underneath the nerves was something else. She had been partially avoiding Graves since the time with the smugglers and the puffskeins, but she was his first choice when it came to this. The location and knowledge of these wards were bad enough, but to be taking part in this was something far more. 

Tina went grumbling over to the little sheltered area to change into the garments. They had to be pure unicorn hair, with no man-made cloth or metals, otherwise they would end up burning themselves and their magic. The unicorn gown was long and an off-white colour that shone in what little light there was, ankle-length with long sleeves that swamped her hands. It made her look much younger than she actually was and she felt like catching the ends of the sleeves in her hands like a child. 

When she stepped out of the little area, leaving her wand behind, she caught sight of Graves in the same garments. He managed to look regal and majesty, even with his hair more astray than normal. Tina pushed the feeling of inadequacy to one side and stood up straighter. She wasn't sure why Graves had picked her but he had picked her and she would try to be worthy of that choice. 

"Percival," Tina said. She remembered how the book on these wards had warned that there were no secrets in the circle. Everything would be laid bare, another reason why there had to be absolute trust between the partners. He turned to look at her, already in the area they were supposed to be. "Why me?" 

A breath. Then two. "I asked you because there is no one else in the world who I trust more," Graves said, his voice softer than Tina had ever heard it. She stepped forward, instinctive even in her shock. 

"What about Madam Picquery?" Picquery and Graves' relationship was legendary and the amount of bets going on throughout MACUSA about whether they had slept together or not, whether they had been in a relationship and it had ended badly or even whether they were still in a relationship (Tina could definitely answer that last one if she wanted to break Graves' trust and make both of them subject to gossip). 

Graves' expression did something she had never seen it do before. "I trust Seraphina and she was my second choice if you refused. But she is not the one I trust with this." 

Tina gave him the best smile she could as she stepped into the circle intersection. "Good thing we've done this before." She felt let down at Graves' answer, though she told herself not to be so foolish. Graves trusted her more than his oldest friend. Who cared if it was only for these specific situations? 

He held up his hand and she took it, easily fitting her hand into his. The calluses every adult magical person had from holding their wand all the time were intimately familiar to her and she tried carefully not to think about what those hands did for her last time she had been intoxicated. Strangely enough, this was very like the first time when neither of them were drugged or affected but at the same time, nothing like the first time. They moved together far easily and when Graves skimmed a hand down her back, she arched herself into him with the knowledge that she wouldn't be rejected. In this, she would have no hesitation. 

She pushed her sister to the back of her mind, knowing she couldn't be thinking about Queenie on the very edge of the circle, in the shadow of the wall, during the ritual. 

Graves' lips were on her neck and she tilted her head to give him better access. He was as skilful as ever and she enjoyed being the centre of his attentions. She had missed him over the past few weeks when she had been trying to adjust to what had happened last time. She had missed talking with him and getting his opinion on things, when he had given her space to get her head screwed on right.

"Tina," he murmured into her neck and she felt a thrill run through her and her arms went tight around his shoulders. She could already feel their magic start to respond to the runes they had scrawled all over the three circles. Her own magic was building up inside her, matching her desire for Graves, but for once she could feel his magic roll against her, warming her skin and making her moan. 

She pulled him to the floor, wanting to take charge of the situation just a little bit, and when he followed her down, she rolled them until she was on top. He looked surprised but then smiled up at her. It was a Graves' smile, small and very personal, nothing like the wide smiles he used when he was trying to charm someone or going undercover and she could do nothing but smile back. 

"I think we should try it this way," she whispered, a little teasing in her voice. He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles, much like the knights from the old Muggle fairytales, like the one he was named after. She knew Graves was old-fashioned but this was something else. 

"Who am I to say no?" They kissed again and Graves' hands started to move, caressing her through her robe. The unicorn hair was thin and it felt like she was wearing nothing at all as Graves' hands drove her higher and higher. He pulled her robe up so he could reach between her legs, his clever fingers making her shiver in pleasure. He knew enough about her now to know when she wanted gentle and when she wanted firm. Tina might feel embarrassed with anyone else about how easily and quickly she came but it was only Graves beneath her. She kissed him, stifling her cry at the last second and he gladly responded. 

Everything felt far easier after she had come and she followed Graves' lead when he started chanting the spell. She wriggled as he started to caress her again, a little more sensitive after her orgasm, and went to return the favour. The unicorn robe felt smooth and light underneath her hands but Graves' heat came through all the same. He groaned and she rewarded him by kissing his neck just underneath his ear. 

Both of them finished their halves of the spell and the magic charged up around them as Queenie worked from the outside to strengthen the spell and the barriers around them. They were on a time limit now and Tina pulled at Graves' robe until they were rucked up at the front. She was conscious of Queenie watching outside the circle and kept Graves as covered as possible. Queenie might have seen everything in her head and maybe in Graves' head as well, but there was something different about seeing him in the flesh. 

Tina sat up, straddling Graves' hips as she pulled up her own robe until it pooled around her hips. "Ready?" The question was voiced in a breathy way which wasn't her own. 

He nodded at her and looked at her with the kind of steady trust she only now realised he had been giving her for so long. She swallowed and resolved to think about it at some point in time, preferably somewhere far away from Queenie, when she wasn't about to complete an old magical ritual. She took hold of his erection and held it in position as she seated herself down, taking him inside. 

She gasped involuntarily. Neither one of them had had any aphrodisiac to make this desperate or blur the memory of it in any way and the position they were in meant Graves could do nothing but sit and watch her, something which made her feel both excited and uncomfortable all at once. She gave it a second to adjust to him inside of her but she needed far less time she had expected, her body seemingly already used to it, and began to move. The rise and fall of her hips was familiar but the look on Graves' face wasn't. He looked at her without any hint of a mask, either magic induced or not, and Tina felt like his regard, his trust was a weight on her heart, both terrifying and wonderful at the same time. 

Lines around her started to glow and she could feel the spell working as she and Graves worked together. Her thighs were burning from where she was on top but she barely paid her body any attention. It felt like something was building, like something was going to happen, and they needed to be prepared. Just as orgasm was pooling in her stomach, so was the magic around them. Underneath her hand, where it had ended up spread over Graves' heart, she could feel Graves breathing faster than normal. She was closer to him than she had ever been. When she looked down into his eyes, he looked as stunned as she felt and then, all of a sudden, she knew. 

It was like she was Percival and he was Tina. She knew everything about him in that one instant, knowledge working its way through her mind like water soaking into parched earth. It was awe-inspiring and she felt so powerful with that knowledge at her fingertips. She knew every inch of the ground inside the two circles and Percival was part of that territory. 

Just as quickly as she felt her mind expanding to accommodate the new knowledge she had gained, she felt the cracks starting to appear. She started to breathe faster as pain started to filter through, starting as a headache which worked its way down her spine. The knowledge of Percival Graves, of those who had come before them in this ritual, started to leak out of her mind. The more she tried to hold on, the more it leaked away. Like an Obscurus separated from its host. 

Pain overtook pleasure and Tina felt rather than saw darkness flicker on the edges of her vision. She looked down at Graves, his hands on her hips the last thing she felt before she fell forwards and knew nothing more. 

Queenie's voice woke her up, some time later. Tina felt like she should be back in her bed in their apartment being woken by Queenie for work, but her body ached like she had been thrown against a wall and there was a warm, breathing someone underneath her. Alarm spiked in her brain before she recognised the familiar scent of Graves and felt his arms cradling her loosely. 

It was more the fact that his scent had become familiar that had Tina shooting upwards, only to grimace as several muscles pulled in places she hadn't been expecting. Tina wanted to scrabble off Graves but the memory of the ritual came back to her and she remained where she was. Her own gown covered her nicely where she was on top but right now it was only her body and her gown preventing Graves from being exposed to Queenie's worried eyes. 

"Teenie, are you alright?" Queenie was outside of the circles still but she had moved around so she was in front of Tina rather than behind her. 

"I'm fine, Queenie," she said absently and blasted Queenie with a reassuring hum from her mind. Queenie still watched her like a mother bird who had just watched her baby drop out of the nest and then recover itself, but she didn't push any further. Tina looked down at her partner. Graves' body was unnaturally relaxed, still out cold, and Tina took the opportunity to lift herself up from Graves long enough to pull his robe back down into place. "The ritual's finished, Queenie." She didn't know how she knew this, or how she knew it had been successful, but she felt drained of nearly everything. All she wanted to do was make sure Graves was alright and then head home to sleep. 

"You want me to give you some time, honey?" Queenie asked, whether due to her leglimency skills or her natural empathy. 

Tina looked at Graves and felt that weird sense of knowledge again, though it was a mere flicker of what it had been. All she knew was that Graves was okay and he would wake up soon, just like she had. "Yes, please," Tina replied. "I'll wait until Per - Graves wakes up." Queenie nodded and left the room, careful to stay on the outside of the circles before she reached the bottom of the stairs and climbed out. 

Barely two minutes later and Graves was coming awake the same way Tina did. Slowly at first and then all at once until his eyelids shot up and he gasped and panted as he stared at the ceiling. He turned his head to one side and made eye contact with Tina, his lack of shock unsurprising to Tina but worrying all the same. 

"That was not what I was expecting," Graves said in a hoarse voice. It was a dry comment, one Tina would have expected from him, but she knew he was rattled. The bone-deep knowledge of him had disappeared as soon the ritual finished but it had left tracks in her mind. She felt like she knew him better than she had ever known him before and would ever know anyone ever again. 

"I was about to ask whether you had left something out," Tina replied dryly. She knew he had told her everything he knew before the ritual but it lightened her mood to see him make a face at her. He sat up slowly and then looked around at the room. 

"Where's your sister?" 

"She waited until I woke up and then she left." Tina shifted and wished for her wand. Magic rituals did nothing for the wet patches after sex. "Do you know what happened?" 

"No." Graves shook his head, his gaze growing distant. He had switched over to Director Graves, professional and brilliant, as he tried to work out what had happened in the ritual. Tina had been expecting sex, a slight drain on her magic from the spell and then for everything to subside afterward, not whatever had just happened. She opened her mouth to ask about it but Graves stood up fluidly, interrupting whatever she had been about to say. "I need to check the wards," he said before he walked over to where their wands and clothes were. Tina followed because he was right and she would feel a lot better in her own clothes, rather than a gown which made her look like a twelve-year-old. 

She changed, feeling very unbalanced and the feeling wasn't helped when she stepped out of the curtained area to see Graves looking very put together as he ran his wand over the runes which marked the wards at the centre of the three interlocking circles. She watched and said nothing until he had finished, wanting to prove that she could be as professional as he was being. 

But when the wards were marked as fine and stronger than ever, she couldn't help but speak up. 

"Are we going to talk about it? What happened during the ritual between us?" Tina felt reckless at that moment. At any other time she wouldn't have been able to ask the question, fear of rejection and fear of Graves' disapproval stopping her from speaking, but right then she felt closer to Graves than she had ever felt to anyone and she needed to talk to him about it. 

"What about it? Nothing has changed, it's just like the other times." Graves adjusted the cuffs on his suit and looked at Tina. His gaze was distant and remote, something which struck Tina harder than she thought it would. 

It wasn't like every other time, no matter what Graves said. All the other times had been sex, albeit both of them trusting the other when they were vulnerable, but this time Tina had seen inside of Graves' mind. For that one moment she had known him better than she had known anyone else, including herself, and to dismiss that as just like the other times did it a disservice. She may not have that bone deep knowledge anymore but she did remember how it felt. 

Maybe it hadn't the same effect on Graves or even he hadn't appreciated it when it had happened. He could have felt what she had felt and disliked it so much he had to distance himself from it as much as possible. Distance himself from her. 

Normally, she would protest, she would fight back against Graves making the decisions for the both of them. They were no longer boss and employee, but had become friends of a sort. The trust between them had been hard won but it had been won all the same and it meant she felt far more comfortable challenging him, especially when it was to do with their personal rather than their professional lives. But she couldn't speak up, not right then. She felt raw and vulnerable, like her soul had been exposed to the air, and all she wanted to do was curl up in her bed with no one around and cry. If she cried in front of Graves, she would never forgive herself. 

"So noted," she said, her struggle to keep herself from screaming or shouting or crying made her voice sound bland and distant. Whatever he had heard in her voice had Graves' gaze snapping to her. She met his eyes for a second before spinning on her heel and heading towards the stairs. She didn't look at the centre of the circle and she didn't look back at Graves, not even when he called her name. She walked out of the basement, collected Queenie from where she had been hovering in the living room and headed back to their apartment. She didn't have to say anything, Queenie knew and she gave Tina the space she needed. 

"Don't you worry, Teenie," Queenie said as she delivered some hot cocoa to Tina in her bed. "He'll see what a big mistake he's making." 

Tina shrugged. It wasn't that she disbelieved her sister, she just didn't know whether things would ever be the same by the time Graves did realise what he had done. Sometimes things broke and couldn't be fixed again.


End file.
